Sparkling Strawberry Tea

It is strawberry season. If you haven’t gone strawberry picking you better get cracking. I generally get a mess of strawberries right now and freeze them.

“What is a mess,” you ask?

Well, it is a technical term us southerners use when we are not sure how much of something we have.

It is kinda similar to “up the road.”

That means we are not sure how many miles a particular place is, but it is in close proximity of where we are standing.

If we say bless your heart, that generally means we feel sorry for you.

Bless her heart, that new hairdo makes her look like Snookie from Jersey Shore.

See what I mean?

I can attest that most southerners and northerners in the south love iced tea. We can drink it 100 ways to Sunday.

That means there are many different ways to make it.

This recipe calls for frozen strawberries, to use fresh, chop 10 oz strawberries and add a tablespoon or two of sugar. Let sit for 15-20 minutes until they macerate. That is just a fancy shmancy way of saying they give off their juice.

Directions:

1.In a blender or food processor, process the thawed strawberries until smooth. Set aside.
2.Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the tea bags, cover and remove from the heat. Let steep for 10 minutes
3.Remove the tea bags without squeezing them. Stir in the sugar until dissolved. Stir in the limeade and strawberry puree.
4.Pour the tea into a 2 quart container and add mint sprigs if desired.
5. Let cool.
6. Remove the mint, then chill.

When ready to serve, pour the tea mixture into a punch bowl large enough to handle the tea plus the sparkling water. Loosely add the sparking water. Serve over ice. If desired, add sliced strawberries to the punch bowl or each glass for garnish.

I missed strawberry season here. (It has come and gone.) 🙁 I will have to save this for next season. I definitely want to try this! Love your “Southernisms,” too! I am about ready to go pick a “mess” of blackberries, do you think this would work with them?

This is exactly what I need on a hot day by the pool! We’re hosting an online seasonal potluck and June is strawberry month! If you’d like to link your recipe, we’d love to have you! http://bit.ly/eLlgG2

What a wonderful tea! My mom would just love this and I will have to pass it on to her. I wanted to invite you to come and show off your recipe at the recipe spotlight I host every week. Have a blessed day 🙂Katie

About Me

Veronica (Vonnie) is a widowed Catholic mom and a Coastal Virginia based food writer, a not so perfect Weight Watcher follower and animal wrangler, with a constant yearning for freshly baked bread, Krispy Kreme donuts, fried chicken and setting off the fire alarm in the pursuit of the perfect recipe.